Indeed. And that is one type of story, or story behind a story, that I formed ChannSpirations and Coincidences to house. I was thking the lizard led you to the book as I was reading your comment.

Familar with Marcus Aurelius. I have his book, Meditations but havent read much of it. I think the stoics, who are very in vogue these days almost to the point of a fad, are overrated, especially when I read that they were complete fatalists (no free will--the gods control everything). I do like some of their thinking which is very in line with the true meaning of the serenity prayer, which is that all we can really control and change are our own attitudes and reactions. I wrote this piece a couple of years ago--I think you'll enjoy it: https://medium.com/channspirations/the-serenity-prayer-df758d99c956

It also has some fun stories of how the universe can get our attention.